The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), through its Beach Monitoring Program, lifted water contact advisories Wednesday for sampling stations 4, 5, and 10. There are no advisories currently in effect across the Mississippi Gulf Coast

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) announced today that a prize purse of at least $6,000 may be awarded to the participants of the Beach Outfalls Challenge.

“To further incentivize innovators as they develop new solutions that can directly impact water quality in the Mississippi Sound, we have worked with a number of sponsors along the coast to offer cash prizes as part of our Beach Outfalls Challenge,” said Marc Wyatt, director of the Office of Oil Spill Restoration at MDEQ. “We’re grateful to these sponsors, including Mississippi Power Company and Ingalls Shipbuilding, for their commitment to restoration efforts along our coastline.”

The Mississippi Recycling Coalition (MRC) is pleased to announce the 2016 Environmental Hero Award recipients honoring outstanding recycling programs and organizations in the state. Each year, MRC seeks nominations of organizations, businesses, agencies, schools, and local governments from around the State of Mississippi that have excelled in their recycling and materials management program efforts. The nominees are evaluated based on the success of their recycling efforts including promotion and outreach, the duration and extent of their recycling program, their overall environmental stewardship, and the manner in which recycling has improved community waste handling and environmental practices. The MRC is pleased to recognize the 2016 recipients with our Environmental Hero Awards as “Recyclers of the Year” in the following 5 categories:

The Mississippi Recycling Coalition (MRC) is pleased to recognize one of Mississippi’s outstanding young people for her efforts to increase and promote recycling in her community. The Coalition recently presented Ms. Becca Blair of Brandon, MS with a “Recycling Star” Award at a ceremony at the State Capitol Building coinciding with the organization’s Recycling Awareness Day. Becca, age 9, resides with her family in Brandon, MS near the Ross Barnett Reservoir where she has worked to promote and grow recycling in her community. From a very young age, Becca’s family instilled in her the importance of conserving our natural resources and being good stewards of the environment. Along with her family, Becca has been a faithful volunteer with the Keep the Reservoir Beautiful organization since she was only 3 years old.